Secrets of Shavuot

The inner meaning of 50 and why Shavuot has no date.

Every Jewish holiday falls on a specific day of the month, with one exception: Shavuot, the day on which we accepted the Torah. Shavuot is always the 50th day following the beginning of Passover. Under the essential Jewish calendar in which the rabbinical court determined the beginning of a month through witnesses who saw the new moon, it could technically fall on any one of three dates since the number of days in a Jewish month could vary from year to year. The name Shavuot alludes to its independence from the standard calendar. The name means "weeks," demonstrating how the holiday marks the culmination of seven weeks regardless of the date. What is the essence of that dateless day? Hints to the answer lie within the process that leads to Shavuot, the book we read on Shavuot, and the number 50 itself.

Metamorphosis

The key to understanding Shavuot lies within the process that leads up to it. We start counting the days from our exodus from Egypt, our birth as a people, and continue to count until Shavuot, the 50th day. That count marks a period of national metamorphosis. The Jewish people had been so entrenched in Egypt that the Torah described the Exodus as the extraction of one nation from amidst another. As a child just born, we were in our spiritual infancy and in just 50 days we achieved the lofty stature that enabled us to receive the Torah. Our count begins with a simple sacrifice of barley, food regarded as animal fodder. It culminates with a special sacrifice of the finest bread, human food, signifying our national arrival at a new level of existence.

Ruth

The progression from a fledgling people to a mature nation is also reflected in the story of Ruth which we read on Shavuot. Ruth was a Moabite princess who married a Jew. When her husband died, Ruth, still young, could have easily returned to her people and been a celebrity in the royal set. Instead, she tenaciously clung to Naomi, her Jewish mother-in-law, and was determined to convert and embrace Judaism despite attempts to dissuade her. She joined the Jewish nation penniless with only her mother in law as a friend. Yet her self sacrifice and quality was noticed by a wealthy landowner and prominent judge named Boaz from whose field she would collect leftover grain for herself and Naomi. He eventually married her, and that relationship gave rise to the scion of the Jewish monarchy and King David ultimately descended from her. Our tradition teaches that the Mashiach, the future king of the Jewish people, will come from that line as well. Since David was born on Shavuot, we read the story of his ancestry on that day.

The irony of the Jewish royal family's origin is remarkable. Moab was the lowliest of nations, known for its cruelty, especially to the Jews, and overt promiscuity. Moab's own ancestry itself was of questionable nature. Not only did it stem from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter who got her father drunk with a specific purpose in mind, but the nation's very name announced the act. That daughter called her offspring "Moab" which literally means "from my father." Yet David nonetheless came from the family of that Moabite princess who, at least in title, represented everything that Moab stood for.

Ruth, her re-birth as a Jew, and the transformation which made King David, born on Shavuot, parallels our national march from Passover to Shavuot. We begin on the lowest of levels just as Ruth did, but work our way up to the point at which we can receive Torah.

The Meaning of Fifty

Looking deeper, we can find this very theme reflected in our counting toward Shavuot, and the day's identity as the 50th day of a count we initiate. The secret lies in the number 50 itself. According to Jewish tradition, the natural world is predicated on systems of seven. In time, there are seven days of the week. In space, a central point can expand in six opposite directions: right and left, up and down, forward and backward, the point itself being the central theme around which all is situated. The word sheva, seven, has the same characters as the word savea, meaning satiated, indicating a realm which represents full expansion of the possibilities.

Fifty symbolizes the ability to transcend all the details and enter a new and higher realm.

It follows that anything beyond seven represents a world that transcends nature -- a higher realm. The word for eight, shmoneh, comes from the word shamen, fat, indicating something that goes beyond its own borders. A brit, circumcision which marks entry into a covenant with God, therefore, takes place on the eighth day, a day that goes beyond all worldly matters and connects the human with the Divine.

Taking this theme to the next level, the fullest expansion of the realm of nature is found when one multiplies seven by seven. The result is 49. Going one beyond brings us to 50, which symbolizes the ability to transcend all the details and enter a new and higher realm. But how does that 50th level correlate with a nation's march from infancy to maturity? What connection is there to Ruth's growing from the most degenerate of Moab to the mother of Jewish royalty? The key to unlocking the meaning of the 50th level lies within a biblical story concerning our forefather Yaakov.

Jewish Counting

En route to Israel, Yaakov met up with his brother Eisav who was coming to "greet" him with an army of 400 soldiers. Considering Eisav's earlier resolution to kill Yaakov, Yaakov prayed, prepared for war, and, also sent waves of gifts to appease his brother. At first Eisav refused the bounty, and responded with "yesh li rav, I have many things." However, Yaakov insisted and responded with "yesh li kol¸ I have everything." Yaakov prevailed, and Eisav accepted all the gifts.

What was the dialogue really about? How was Yaakov's possession of "kol," everything, the factor that determined that Eisav would accept the gifts after all?

Yaakov fused everything he owned to a larger whole, a transcendent oneness.

Eisav's initial protests flowed from his saying that he had rav, many or much. Indeed, Eisav represents a world predicated on multitudes, on many and on quantity. When Eisav's family numbered only a few people, the Torah referred to them as nefashot, souls, in the plural. In contrast, when Yaakov's family numbered 70, the Torah called them nefesh, soul, in the singular. The power of Yaakov and the meaning of his having kol is that Yaakov was not one who simply amassed wealth. Instead, there was a unifying theme in everything he owned, and every individual unit he had fused to a larger whole, a transcendent oneness. Yaakov truly had everything, and the gift was appropriate for Eisav, for whom more quantity was always a good thing.

In our countdown toward Shavuot, we strive to reach the level of Yaakov. We count 49 days, representing the world of Eisav, the realm of multitude in the full expansion of the number seven representing nature. We reach the maximum of a world of quantity. Not surprisingly, Moab, Ruth's mother nation, is 49 in gematria, representing the world of all that is physical, of amassing quantity. Yet we go a step beyond, and reach the 50th, represented by the kol possessed by Yaakov described. The numerical value of kol is 50. Our kol enables us to go beyond the details and to fuse them into one whole unit, to transcend the word of quantity and reach a unified whole. It is that lofty level that brings us from infancy, from our newborn status to maturity, and transforms every experience we have along the way into a single theme. It enables us to come from the lowest depths, for the Davidic line to come from the humblest origins, and to reach the highest places.

We received the Torah on the 50th day, not on a calendar date. It is the product of our counting through every natural level, and achieving transcendence to the point that we don't even count the fiftieth day – a date which is not quantifiable. Instead, we arrive at it. On that day, we stood under Mount Sinai as one person with one heart. We were not millions but simply one. In a parallel manner, the Torah addresses every aspect of life, and provides guidance for any conceivable circumstance. It unifies every detail, fuses every disparate component. It is the ultimate kol. It enables us to take our most base experiences and our humble origins and to unite them to a larger cause.

To this day, that power survives. Through the process of Shavuot and the days that lead up to it, we can transcend our past, and unite all the details of our prior experience to bring us to the point that we transcend what we were and become something greater.

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About the Author

Rabbi Doniel Baron is a senior lecturer at Aish HaTorah's Discovery Seminar. He received his law degree from NYU School of Law and practiced law at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He presently lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children.

Visitor Comments: 21

This essay by Rabbi Barron discusses the deep Kabbalistic meaning of Shavouth in a clear readable non-technical way. It does a wonderful job linking the various symbols of the holiday.

(20)
Fernando Bisker,
September 11, 2008 6:19 PM

Very Good

Very Good

(19)
Herb Jurist,
June 9, 2008 9:16 PM

Great, touching and concise insight

I relished reading this summary!

(18)
meira,
June 9, 2008 7:03 AM

Reading Secrets of Shavuot is a sheer joy, it is Mayim Chayim to the thirsty. Thanks

(17)
Rivka,
June 8, 2008 9:06 AM

Thank God for his blessing to send us you!

Need I say more? Overflowing with love and knowledge, passing on the traditon to those which have not had much chance to learn about it - daughter of a Shoa-victim, my Dad wouldn''t teach anything anymore!

(16)
lyn morrison,
June 8, 2008 5:26 AM

Wonderful Exposition

You are blessed in being such a scholar able to extract what is hidden from most in the overlooked origins of this observance. We are inspired to deeper joy.

(15)
Avri Vanbeuren,
June 7, 2008 6:35 PM

tobanah r''chabah!!

(14)
Sam,
June 7, 2008 10:57 AM

WOW

An eye opener, thank you.

(13)
Grace Fishenfeld,
June 6, 2008 5:35 PM

The Many Are ONE

Like Anny Matar, who commented on 6/4/08, I too am a secular Jew who appreciates the meaning you have given to our understanding of Shavuot. Indeed there are may Of us Jews from all over the world who may differ on the food we eat and The Temples we join, yet we are ONE. We stand as ONE and we value the gift of the Torah as ONE.The days that number 49 from Passover and on the 50th day, We hear as One.

Thank you Rabbi Baron

(12)
Abraham Dattner,
June 6, 2008 1:29 PM

An excellent reading for Shavot

This is a great article. The best I have ever read re: Shavot....A must read !!

(11)
bob wittenberg,
June 6, 2008 12:46 PM

lovely article

Explained a lot to a humble, and not very educated guy, with Shavuot, but I''m learning every day Thank you

(10)
Zacharia Mathews,
June 6, 2008 9:17 AM

Importance of numbers

Yes, indeed the numbers influences our life as it is a divine plan. Judaism is not about rivlary, but about praise and blessings to G-d. It teaches people respect each other and above all, children are the greatest asset of all. G-d accepted children (coming generation) as the testimony for revealing Torah on Shavout. This is the time to praise G-d by all beings on the earth. Let G-d bless us all.

(9)
Ruby,
June 6, 2008 7:03 AM

Just signed up to receive Aish Emails daily

I like your pages and information
you give. Thank YOU

(8)
dee,
June 5, 2008 1:15 PM

thanks

really beautiful article. thanks for the inspiration

(7)
Nathaniel McHargue,
June 5, 2008 9:47 AM

Thanks a bunch!

That was a really well written article and I was able to gain a lot of insight into my own life. I love discovering how everything works so harmoniously together in Judaism. Thanks again!

(6)
elisheva lewis,
June 4, 2008 9:06 PM

finding who i was meant to b e

I can''t stop thanking HASHEM for miraculously placing AISH on my computer screen. it is the many hours of studying TorAH thru the articles and courses that all of you offer that i finally came to know the meaning HASHEM has for my life. I can''t stop thanking all of you for the insight and the depth of erudition and the conciseness of your articles. I have been able to grow and make up for all the lost years of youth that i lived w/o knowing anything about my jewish roots. Oh, i feel so free and so happy i can almost scream!!!!!!

(5)
Anny Matar,
June 4, 2008 10:12 AM

A most enlightening article, thank you

We, the secular people, so often celebrate a holy day without any knowledge of its real meaning. Thank you for explaining it in such simple language, but to give this day such deep meaning.
Thank you,
Anny Matar

(4)
Anonymous,
June 3, 2008 9:19 PM

Thanks

Dear Rabbi Baron, thanks for this in Shavuot Themes. It was wonderful.

(3)
Leah,
June 3, 2008 11:39 AM

thank you

Thank you Rabbi Baron for your wonderful Torah insights. Your article was enjoyable to read and easy for me to remember the points. After reading it, I was thinking how amazing it is that we, as the Jewish Nation go thru the cyclical year together. We happen to be many people and are spread out all over the world and inhabit many synagogues, yet we really are a "people" who are "one".

(2)
anastasia,
June 2, 2008 12:49 PM

thank you

my teacher asked to get some info for class i searched shavuot on google and got this website, thankyou so much this website is very useful thanks so much!

(1)
Anonymous,
June 1, 2008 12:31 PM

Gematria explains all

crystal clear explanation of a Holiday which I now recognize as a basic structure in my life.